Michel Platini: Uefa boss asked to stand for Fifa presidency

By Richard Conway BBC Radio 5 live sports news correspondent

Uefa boss Michel Platini has been asked by a majority of world football chiefs to stand for the Fifa presidency.

Platini is said to have had assurances of support from his own confederation, Asia, South America, plus North and Central America and the Caribbean.
However, it is thought Platini has yet to decide if he will stand.
Current Fifa president Sepp Blatter said on 2 June he would stand down and is set to announce plans for reform of football's governing body on Monday.
Blatter will hold talks with Fifa's executive committee over a date for the new presidential election with 16 December earmarked by several regional football confederations as their preferred option.
The 79-year-old was elected for a fifth term as president on 29 May, but four days later announced his intention to relinquish the post amid two corruption investigations.
Former Fifa presidential candidate Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, who lost out to Blatter in the May election, has called for the Swiss to leave immediately.

Sepp Blatter has been in charge of Fifa since 1998

"President Blatter's resignation cannot be dragged out any longer. He must leave now," he said.
"He cannot be permitted to plan his succession and manage this election process. An interim independent leadership must be appointed to administer the process of the elections, in addition to the reforms that are being discussed prior to the elections."
Prince Ali, who gave no indication in his statement of whether he intends to run again for the Fifa presidency, said the December option is unfair on Fifa members.
"It will not be possible for any of the other football associations of the world to put forward credible candidates from our community,'' said the 39-year-old, who has been president of Jordan's national football body since 1999.
"It is their absolute right to be a part of this process, and to have time to carefully consider the future without being rushed into an early election."
Blatter is not expected to backtrack on his announcement to stand aside as president, despite appearing to suggest he was reconsidering his decision in June.

Manchester United: Louis van Gaal happy with attacking options

By Simon Stone BBC Sport in San Jose

Manchester United are ready to gamble on the fitness of striker Wayne Rooney, and may not bring in any more forwards.

Javier Hernandez and James Wilson are the only other true strikers left after Robin van Persie joined Fenerbahce and Radamel Falcao's loan ended.
Boss Louis van Gaal is considering using Rooney as a sole striker with support coming from summer signing Memphis Depay behind him.
However, Van Gaal did not rule out "a surprise" signing.
Following Friday night's friendly win over Club America, he said: "I am not worried about depth of forwards. We still have Rooney. He can play in the striker's position. Last year the media said he had to play there. I listen to the media.
"We also have [Javier] Hernandez, [James] Wilson and maybe a surprise, you never know. It is a process."
Despite spending £83.1m on four players so far this summer, the club have not ruled out another big-money signing.
Rooney, 29, has been relatively injury-free over the past two seasons. On both occasions he was United's top league scorer with 14 and 17 goals respectively.
The last time he was used extensively as the club's main forward was during the 2009-10 season, when he scored 34 goals - the best tally of his career so far.

Van Gaal's transfer spending so far
Forward Memphis Depay (PSV Eindhoven)	£31m
Midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin (Southampton)	£25m
Midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich)	£14.4m (reported)
Right-back Matteo Darmian (Torino)	£12.7m (reported)
Total	£83.1m

Depay, 21, could be played in a more central attacking spot than the wider role he usually occupied at PSV Eindhoven, Van Gaal has said.
He played behind Rooney in the number 10 role in the opening match of his side's US tour against Club America.
Hernandez is now likely to be the main back-up to Rooney, which is a surprise as his United career looked over when he went on loan to Real Madrid last season.
The Mexican, 27, is currently sidelined with a broken collarbone that ruled him out of his country's Gold Cup campaign.
A similar role has been earmarked for 19-year-old Wilson, who did not make the progress anticipated last season after scoring twice on his debut against Hull in May 2014.

United's first five matches
Tottenham (home)	Sat, 8 Aug
Aston Villa (away)	Fri, 14 Aug
Newcastle (home)	Sat, 22 Aug
Swansea (away)	Sun, 30 Aug
Liverpool (home)	Sat, 12 Sep

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Transfer deals - July 2015

The summer transfer window opened in England, Scotland and Wales on Wednesday, 1 July at 00:00 BST and will close again on Tuesday, 1 September, at 18:00 BST.

Signings confirmed in May and June can be found on previous transfer pages.

Most expensive signing:	Raheem Sterling [Liverpool - Manchester City] £44m
Busiest club:	Mansfield and Notts County (13)
Busiest Premier League club:	Bournemouth, Stoke and Watford (7)

For all the latest rumours, check out the Gossip page and for all the manager ins and outs for July, see the current manager's list.
Transfers organised into Premier League, Football League and Scottish Premiership by the buying club, then listed in alphabetical order by the player's surname. Prominent global transfers will also be included.

19 JULY

Premier League
Patrick Roberts [Fulham - Manchester City] Undisclosed

18 JULY

Premier League
Jordan Amavi [Nice - Aston Villa] Undisclosed

17 JULY

Premier League
Fabian Delph [Aston Villa - Manchester City] £8m
Football League
Stanley Aborah [Unattached - Notts County] Free
Wes Fogden [Portsmouth - Yeovil] Free
Fraser Franks [Luton - Stevenage] Free
Jordy Hiwula [Manchester City - Huddersfield] Undisclosed
Conor Newton [Rotherham - Cambridge] Free
Tomas Kalas [Chelsea - Middlesbrough] Loan
Cristian Benavente [Real Madrid Castilla - MK Dons] Free
Global
Kiko Casilla [Espanyol - Real Madrid] £4.2m
Yaya Sanogo [Arsenal - Ajax] Loan

16 JULY

Premier League
Younes Kaboul [Tottenham - Sunderland] Undisclosed
Football League
Stewart Downing [West Ham - Middlesbrough] £5.5m
Milan Lalkovic [Barnsley - Walsall] Free
Matt McClure [Wycombe - Dagenham & Redbridge] Free
Lewis McGugan [Watford - Sheffield Wednesday] Undisclosed
Josh Passley [Fulham - Dagenham & Redbridge] Free
Scottish Premiership
Salva Chamorro [Lleida Esportiu - Hamilton] Free
Liam Craig [Hibernian - St Johnstone] Free
Owain Fon Williams [Tranmere - Inverness] Free
Kieran Kennedy [Leicester - Motherwell] Free
Global
Santiago Vergini [Sunderland - Getafe] Loan
Juanfran [Watford - Deportivo La Coruna] Loan
Robinho [Santos - Guangzhou Evergrande] Free

15 JULY

Premier League
Jordy Clasie [Feyenoord - Southampton] Region of £8m
Jeremain Lens [Dynamo Kiev - Sunderland] £8m
Moha El Ouriachi [Barcelona - Stoke] Undisclosed
Football League
Jeff Hughes [Fleetwood - Cambridge] Free
Scott Loach [Rotherham - Notts County] Free
Farrend Rawson [Derby - Rotherham] Loan
Kelle Roos [Derby - Rotherham] Loan
Ben Tollitt [Skelmersdale United - Portsmouth] Undisclosed
Ross Turnbull [Barnsley - Leeds] Free

14 JULY

Premier League
Carl Jenkinson [Arsenal - West Ham] Loan
Allan Nyom [Udinese - Watford] Undisclosed
Raheem Sterling [Liverpool - Manchester City] £44m (potentially rising to £49m)
Football League
Tom Adeyemi [Cardiff - Leeds] Loan
Ali Al-Habsi [Wigan - Reading] Free
Ryan Bird [Cambridge - Yeovil] Free
David Fox [Colchester - Crewe] Free
Will Grigg [Brentford - Wigan] Undisclosed
Mark Marshall [Port Vale - Bradford] Free
Lyle Taylor [Scunthorpe - AFC Wimbledon] Undisclosed
Martyn Woolford [Millwall - Sheffield United] Free
Global
Robin van Persie [Manchester United - Fenerbahce] Undisclosed

13 JULY

Premier League
Asmir Begovic [Stoke - Chelsea] £8m (reported)
Filippo Costa [Chievo - Bournemouth] Loan
Ollie McBurnie [Bradford - Swansea] Undisclosed
Morgan Schneiderlin [Southampton - Manchester United] £25m
Bastian Schweinsteiger [Bayern Munich - Manchester United] £14.4m (reported)
Football League
Scott Boden [Halifax - Newport] Free
Peter Denton [Rotherham - Hartlepool] Free
Uche Ikpeazu [Watford - Port Vale] Loan
Danny Pugh [Coventry - Bury] Free
Drissa Traore [Notts County - Swindon] Free
Grant Ward [Tottenham - Rotherham] Loan
Scottish Premiership
Coll Donaldson [QPR - Dundee United] Free
Antons Kurakins [Ventspils - Hamilton] Free
Gramoz Kurtaj [Banik Most - Hamilton] Free
Dani Lopez [La Roda - Inverness CT] Free
Carlton Morris [Norwich - Hamilton] Loan
Christian Nade [Raith Rovers - Hamilton] Free
Global
Aaron Hughes [Brighton - Melbourne City] Free

12 JULY

Premier League
Glen Johnson [Liverpool - Stoke] Free
Global
Iker Casillas [Real Madrid - Porto] Free

11 JULY

Premier League
Valon Behrami [Hamburg - Watford] Undisclosed
Matteo Darmian [Torino - Manchester United] £12.7m (reported)
Georginio Wijnaldum [PSV Eindhoven - Newcastle] £14.5m
Football League
Kevin Stewart [Liverpool - Swindon] Loan
Scottish Premiership
Lee McCulloch [Rangers - Kilmarnock] Free
Global
John Guidetti [Manchester City - Celta Vigo] Free

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